The German steel industry faces a potentially existential crisis, triggering a heated political debate after a government advisory panel delivered a stark assessment of its future viability. Michael Kellner, the Green party’s spokesperson for energy policy in the Bundestag, has accused the panel – advising Minister for Economic Affairs, Katarina Reiche (CDU) – of offering a dangerously pessimistic and shortsighted prognosis.
The advisory group’s report essentially declared the German steel sector largely “lost” citing the nation’s ongoing struggle with high energy prices and a resulting lack of international competitiveness. Kellner, a former State Secretary within the very same ministry he now critiques, vehemently rejected this conclusion, emphasizing what he describes as the strategic importance of the industry.
Kellner’s rebuttal highlights a growing anxiety within political circles regarding Germany’s industrial resilience and its dependencies on foreign supply chains. He drew parallels to the fragility exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing that reliance on overseas steel production jeopardizes national security. “We witnessed how brittle supply chains became” he stated to RTL and ntv. “We shouldn’t be in a situation where we are completely reliant on foreign nations.
The controversy underscores a fundamental policy divergence. While the advisory panel seems to favour a largely passive approach, accepting potential industrial decline as inevitable, Kellner champions a proactive strategy, prioritizing the maintenance of a domestic steel industry as a critical element of European security and sovereignty. This stance implies significant intervention, likely involving subsidies, energy price regulation and a renewed focus on decarbonization within the sector – measures that could prove costly and politically contentious, particularly given ongoing pressures on the federal budget.
The debate’s broader implications reach beyond the steel industry, signaling a more general reappraisal of Germany’s industrial policy in a globally challenging environment and raising questions about the willingness of policymakers to actively safeguard strategically vital sectors.